Brent Batten: Crist not a hit with Democrats, either

President Barack Obama and Governor Charlie Crist are greeted by the crowd during the town hall meeting held Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at Harborside Events Center in Fort Myers, Fla. Lexey Swall-Bobay/Staff

Florida Republicans are worried enough about Charlie Crist's potential as a Democratic candidate that they are running pre-emptive ads against him.

They should have been at the Democratic National Convention.

Crist's popularity among top Florida Democrats there was such that party Chairman Rod Smith had to caution them not to boo or make any sort of demonstration when Crist took the stage on national TV to endorse President Barack Obama for re-election.

Smith told the more than 500 delegates, guests and alternates attending the Sept. 6 Florida delegation meeting in Charlotte, N.C. he would be "sorely disappointed" if they did anything to take the evening's focus away from Obama's speech to the convention.

Crist didn't speak to the Florida delegation at the convention in Charlotte. That and the fact that the party chairman had to remind party leaders not to boo Crist, a former Republican turned independent, doesn't exactly speak well of his chances at being the Democratic Party's nominee for governor in 2014.

Chuck Mohlke of Naples, a member of the Democratic National Committee, was at the breakfast and summarized Smith's message as, "If nothing else, keep your own counsel. Let's not hear boos and catcalls."

The convention delegation consisted mainly of party leaders who worked to get votes at caucus meetings in June and delegates hand-picked by Organizing for America because of their loyalty to Obama.

The mix isn't necessarily representative of the bloc that will choose the party's 2014 gubernatorial candidate, Mohlke said. "That group will change profoundly," he said.

Mohlke claims no exclusive insight into who will run for governor in 2014, but he puts Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer on the list of potential candidates.

Dyer has been mayor since 2003 and was last re-elected earlier this year. He was accompanied at the convention by a political consultant, Mohlke noted.

Alex Sink, who ran against Rick Scott in 2010, is a potential candidate with experience and statewide name recognition.

Smith's name has been mentioned as a possible candidate but at the convention in Charlotte he told delegates his son has a rare form of cancer and he intends to spend time helping him battle it.

He's said he won't run for governor as a result.

Former State Sen. Nan Rich of Broward County has already declared her intention to run.

"Whether there will be others to emerge, I have no idea," Mohlke said.

As it turned out, the Floridians applauded politely when Crist spoke to the entire convention. He was warmly received by the convention as a whole, just as former Democrat Artur Davis was warmly received at the Republican National Convention a week earlier and like former Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia was at the Republican convention in 2004.

The parties always enjoy the opportunity to show the world a former stalwart of the opposing party who has come to his or her supposed senses.

But whether that person is seen fit to carry the party mantle in a major race is another matter entirely.